Entrance exams: Night fly by

First, you'll start with the Setsu Forest. You must survive 3 days within this vast place and navigate towards the finish line. Second, you must partake in the Great Hunt; this takes place in the Dead Labyrinth... and finally, third! For this, you must duel to rise through the rankings; this consists of battles against each other, and with that, you may begin… we'll be watching our dear—good luck." After hearing this, a man with red hair and scarlet red eyes walked in from the sidelines.

This man came from where all the instructors had been watching, and with a calm expression, he opened a massive magic gate. "Return the guides and go in!" yelled an instructor, and like that, all the students turned in the guides and walked in as a group; the moment the magic gate closed was the moment they could move.

So after waiting for around 20 minutes, every student was now on the other side of the magic gate. Closing, the gates seemed to give this weird feeling; some students looked at the gates closed and completely disappeared. Most students talked amongst themselves, creating groups to increase their survival chances; Koku, however, stayed silent and chose to blend into one of the groups that had been formed.

Currently, as it had been, 3 major groups had been formed, the first one (Group-Survivor), consisting of 273 students, the second group (Group Lodus) coming in with 191 students, and third (Group Restless), with 126 students. In total, there were 590 students participating, and Koku was clearly one of them.

Koku had chosen Group Lodus, and wondering why he didn't choose one of the biggest groups, the leader of Group Survivor had approached him since he was interested in him, seeing as he read the guide he thought it would be good for them to have that knowledge.

"Hey, the name's Yuusha, nice to meet ya," Koku took one look at him and then looked away, "Ahem! May I ask why you didn't join up with us?" After a few minutes, Yuusha smiled and asked another question, "I'd love to have you onboard with us, so what do you say coming with us?" Koku was about to talk but didn't say anything. Yuusha, the leader of the Survivor group, grew impatient and started getting more aggressive with his questions.

That's when the leader of the Lodus group had intervened, "Cut it out, he's with us and doesn't want to join you." Hearing this, Koku looked over his shoulder and saw a guy around his same age with blue hair and blue eyes. Yuusha didn't take kindly to this way of talking from the leader of the Lodus group, and they began to argue, but after a few minutes, a silent girl from the Survivor group had told Yuusha that it was darkening.

Hearing this, Yuusha scoffed and backed down; he and his group left to find a place for them to set camp, and so did Group Restless. However, Group Lodus stayed for about 20 minutes and took a different route from the others, "We'll head east," the leader of the Lodus group had told everyone.

For a few hours, everything was fine; members gathered things they could eat and use for a fire. Everything was going perfectly; they even had some members that could cast sorts of magic; and when night arrived 4 hours after departing, they had a few fires and a campsite next to a source of running water, and many other things.

All the members seemed to get along perfectly fine, and sitting alone Koku was lost in thought, but a girl and a guy walked towards him, "Hi, may we sit next to you?" the girl asked as the guy introduced himself. Right after him, the girl introduced herself, and they both sat after Koku had nodded to her question.

"May we ask your name?" the girl named April had asked, the guy, who was named Dan, backed her question, asking him for his name too. To their relief, Koku spoke up, "My name's Koku." After he introduced himself, both the girl and guy conversed with Koku, who responded with short answers, but this was of little importance, since Koku's mind was elsewhere.

He had pondered on the information the guide he read earlier throughout the day, and thinking he remembered something called the Nightlights and the Night Owls. Once he thought of those, his first immediate instinct was to look up.

(Flashback) Koku was reading the guide during the calling of the students on the list. While reading Koku came across something called the Night Owl; upon reading its information, he noted this monster would be a menace in the dark; the information went as follows:

The Night Owl is a monster that sleeps during the day and is only active at night. Its incredible eyesight combined with night vision, and nearly 360 view makes things nearly impossible to miss its sights. The Night Owl's sharp talons and razor-sharp beak alongside its speed make it a scary foe to encounter in the dark, worse of all like every owl... it makes no sound when flying; this monster has a thick coat which makes weaker attacks either fly off or stick to the surface of its fur.

That's not all; this monster can create sound waves that if caught in it, has a chance of paralyzing its prey, and unlike some owls in the world, these predators hunt in groups of 2-4, (End flashback).

After looking up, to his sudden sight, he saw a pair of talons exactly 10 feet above himself. Seeing this pair of talons closing the distance, Koku had a mere second to react, and he did so; he jumped forward in the opposite direction of the talon's path.

After dodging, Koku created his aura sword and got into a defensive posture. Now that Koku was on guard, we head over to the rest of the group. Seeing what had just transpired, the students were sent into a panic, the leader tried to calm them all down as he unsheathed the iron blade he was given by his family before the exams.

The atmosphere turned tense as the group ran all over the place; many faces paled with fear and uncertainty. The sounds of rustling leaves and branches could be heard in the distance, and the nerve-racking realization that they were no longer alone settled in. The leader of the Lodus group stepped forward and raised his voice to address his fellow students.

"Stay calm, everyone! We need to organize and defend ourselves," the leader demanded, Koku holding his aura sword firmly scanned the darkness for any signs of movement.

As the moments passed, a pair of glowing eyes emerged from the shadows, revealing the shape of a massive owl. It was the Night Owl, its plumage blending perfectly with the night. The monster's hooting echoed through the small part of the forest, sending shivers down the spines of the students.

The leader signaled for the group to form a circle, their backs pressed together, creating a circle formation in order to defend against the Night Owl. The Night Owl wasn't alone; more pairs of glowing eyes started to appear in the trees, confirming the information Koku had read about them hunting in groups.

April, the girl who had approached Koku earlier, drew a small pouch from her belt. She whispered an incantation under her breath, and a handful of small, glowing orbs materialized in her palm. With a swift motion, she hurled the orbs into the air, and they burst into dazzling lights, casting a warm and protective glow over the area.

The Night Owls screeched and flapped their wings, momentarily blinded and disoriented by the sudden burst of light. Seizing this opportunity, the students attacked, hurling stones, using magic, as the group's leader used minimal magic. The aura sword Koku had created slashed through the air, creating bits of light as it slashed against the sharp talons of the Night Owls.

This sudden surprise attack wasn't yet done, even 10 minutes later, and Koku noticed that the Night Owls were cleverly trying to isolate individual students, attempting to take advantage of their fear and confusion. Koku relayed this information to the leader of the Lodus group, who quickly adjusted their defensive strategy, making sure they weren't left vulnerable.

Of the current visible 4 Night Owls, 2 had been killed, one by Koku and one by the leader with the student's help. Seeing 2 of their own die, the Night Owls retreated into the dark night sky, hearing their hooting cries growing fainter, the group became a little relieved but still wary.

"Finally," a student cried out after what felt like an eternity. Koku, unlike the others, stayed on guard and after about an hour, the leader approached Koku and showed his gratitude by holding his hand out for a handshake, "My name is Aron Silverkest, it's a pleasure to speak to you again, my comrade Koku, I'd like to ask you something."

Hearing him want to ask something Koku's interest was piqued, "Hmmm?" After showing some interest, Aron asked his question, "Koku, I have to ask...